There was something wrong.

Amaya couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that there was something very wrong ever since she woke up that first morning after Yuta and Reiko's arrival.

She vaguely recalled after setting up the kittens in a box in her room with a warm water bottle that night, and the grand assortment of sweet Chinese the twins had chosen for dinner, she'd opted for disappearing for the evening. She'd been awake for a while, tending to the kittens in regular hourly intervals just as the veterinary clinic had instructed, though she eventually nodded off, she guessed.

So waking up tucked away in the futon shouldn't have been strange for her, but it was considering that she hadn't been anywhere near the futon while she was conscious - stranger still was that it appeared the kittens had both been tended to while she was asleep.

But that wasn't the particular something that was so very wrong.

It was the sudden and unexplainable fact that from the moment she woke up on the 26th, Karma was being alarmingly nice to her, and her, alone. He gave the normal treatment to Reiko and Samuel, maintaining his harsh edge towards Yuta, but to her, he was painfully nice.

While he didn't stop with all the cat jabs and taunting remarks, he didn't pinch her face harshly in punishment for doing something he deemed 'wrong', nor did he really do anything to upset her per say. What was more strange and unexplainable than even that however was the fact that without the taunting he would normally give, he opted to cook all her favorite things out of the blue.

It was almost scary, especially the way he seemed to meticulously sidestep any question she had about it, and once he even seemed to avert his gaze from her for a small second, almost like he was guilty when she'd asked him if he was hiding something from her.

She didn't understand it, but she decided there wasn't much point in trying to pry the answer out of him, either.

And so, she decided to leave things alone for the time being - He'd been taking off during daylight hours, anyway, but seemed to make a point of coming back right before sundown, almost like he was checking up on her.

No, undoubtedly that was exactly what he was doing.

Outfitting the house was more important than trying for answers he wouldn't hand over, and so she did just that. The rooms of her siblings were sorted out and furnished, a washing machine was purchased, a television plus the cabinet to put it on and a couch. Bedding was next, along with the necessities for the twins.

All in all, everything was sorted and completed, however, when everything was delivered, for some reason a few other items had been sent along. Apparently paid in full, the receipt the delivery man had given had two purchases, one made a single hour after the one she'd paid for, outfitted with a bed, a closet, and a bedside table.

And the name of the account that had made the purchase was a S.Mizumoto, a dead giveaway that Shigure had been keeping tabs on the purchases made, and recognized immediately her own attempt at trimming any purchases made on herself.

Amaya had frowned at that, though otherwise she said nothing.

It was the last weekend before school was to start again on Monday, Saturday, if Amaya had to take a guess at it. Samuel was apparently enrolled to start attending school with the twins, and he had his uniform and everything needed - The uniform turned up in the mail along with the necessary paperwork just the morning before.

And apparently, Amaya's transfer was canceled without trouble - No doubt if Shigure wasn't the one who organized it, then it was Karasuma. It felt like it had been forever since she had been back in Class E, though in truth, it had just been the summer break - a little over a month, if she had to take a guess.

The morning was strangely silent as Amaya stared up at the ceiling of her room, blinking slowly as she filtered through the conflicting thoughts and suspicions such a morning caused her.

Samuel was an excessively loud waker, always up with the sun and of course, when he was awake he ran around laughing and squealing like he was having the most fun in his life. And ever since meeting the boy, Reiko was always running along with him just compounding the effect worse. Thankfully, Samuel was talking more predominantly in Japanese once he realized that neither Reiko nor Yuta were anywhere near as well versed in English as Amaya.

At the tugging suspicion of the out-of-ordinary silence, she sighed, lifting her hand from inside the box to rub her eyes lightly before she dragged herself out of bed.

There was no point in wondering. It was honestly easier to head into the rest of the house to see for herself.

Amaya frowned slightly as she picked herself up out of bed, a small groan bubbling from past her lips. She tiptoed across the floor and peered out through the door, blinking sleepily as she found herself more than just a little surprised.

Everything was clean, nothing on fire.

And she was all by herself, oddly.

A thought appeared inside her head as she stared out at the perfectly intact living area - Sibling bonding was probably the mission of the day, which was something that could be done without her, apparently.

Not only that, but it was clear they'd planned it for a little while now, what with how early they'd gotten themselves organized.

The faintest of squeaking from the furballs in the box brought Amaya to sigh, and she decided to take the box out of the room with her.

It had been a fair while since she'd had time exclusively to herself like this, and after all this time with a lack of sound sleep, she felt like she needed the time.

So, after setting the box containing the kittens down on the floor next to the couch, Amaya set about planning the next set of necessary purchases.

She'd never had to keep a house fully outfitted before - the Apartment had been the most she'd ever managed.

Minutes ticked over as she worked, eventually filling into an hour and more broken up with the regular intervals of tending to the "Secret Furballs".

It felt like she was getting nowhere.

A knock at the door was the only sign that time had passed to Amaya, snapping her out of her thoughts with a jolt.

Her eyes shifted straight to the door, almost disbelieving the sound she'd heard.

At least, until she heard the knocking echo once again.

A sigh escaped Amaya as she pulled herself away from the five lists she was in the process of pouring her thoughts and concentration over. She could hear the faintest murmur of voices on the other side of the door, so she guessed there was more than one person there.

She hoped it wasn't her three siblings, back because they happened to lose all their housekeys for some inexplicable reason.

However, it was as Amaya grabbed hold of the doorhandle that she found she recognized the voice that spoke up.

'You should make sure you don't go pushing anyones buttons again, Maehara.' Came Isogai's voice in a muffled murmur, the attempt at keeping his voice hushed obvious even through the door. 'You do remember what happened when we bumped into Karma-kun last, don't you? I had to drag you back home, and my Mother had a lot of questions I had a hard time to avoid.'

'That was part of the plan! I know what I'm doing!' A sour Maehara huffed in response.

'Getting forced to drink Tabasco was all part of your plan?'

'Shut it! You're not getting it!'

Bemused, and a little uncertain of whether she wants to hear any more, Amaya shook her head and unlocked the door.

She heard something whispered frantically now that her presence right there had been ascertained, and as she opened the door, she was met with a rather curious, but none the less welcoming sight.

Isogai and Maehara stood on the front steps of her new house, both appearing in good health, and both were dressed in casual clothes. Maehara with his purple summer hoodie, and Isogai with his green shirt. They both also appeared to be holding items of particularly bright fashion - Maehara was holding a particularly large parcel wrapped in orange and gold glittering paper, while Isogai was holding a large basket with a cloth draped over it.

To say she was surprised was an understatement - The weirdness of the situation actually shocked her.

'Yo, Maya-chan!' Maehara announced as he quickly brought a grin to spread across his face. 'It's been a while! So this is where you're living now? Looks pretty nice!'

About the most Amaya could honestly do was nod slightly, her shock still written clear across her face.

'We're sorry for dropping in unannounced, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up in apology, casting a stern glance at his best friend. 'I hope we haven't caught you in the middle of anything important.'

'N-no, it's okay...'

'Actually, I'd wanted to come on Monday, but Koro-sensei and Yuuma here wouldn't let me!' The playboy announced with a petulant pout written across his face, earning him a sharp elbow in response.

Monday?

No, that didn't matter right now.

Amaya shook her head quickly to rid herself of that stunned stupor and stepped out of the doorway.

'C-come in...' Amaya spoke.

A rather impressed sounding hum escaped the playboy as the two boys wandered inside, their shoes kicked off at the door just as Amaya had shut the door behind them.

In spite of the obvious lack of entire furnishings, the place was still barely furnished enough for daily living.

Though Amaya was sure just one couch wasn't going to cut it if Maehara and Isogai decided to drop in for visits anymore.

And well, she did vaguely recall through all the hell that she and Nakamura Rio seemed to be getting along surprisingly well during whatever tolerable moments during the mess of Okinawa there were.

'Your new residence feels very warm and welcoming, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up, fixing Amaya with a kind smile as he looked back towards her. 'You appear to have been busy since Okinawa.'

Amaya hedged, uncertain of what she could actually say to that.

Though Maehara leaped into action before Isogai seemed to have noticed the her discomfort.

'Oi Maya-chan! Come over here! We've got stuff to do!' Maehara called out from the small dining table, the large parcel he'd brought sitting neatly in the middle next to the box of kittens.

She was suddenly very suspicious, though she did her best to hide this from notice.

The kittens inside the box were mewling ever so slightly, their voices echoing faintly as Amaya followed Isogai towards the table. The playboy was peering at the box curiously for a short moment, before he turned his head back towards Amaya.

'You don't strike me to be a cat-loving person, Maya-chan.' He remarked with a raised eyebrow. 'Are you trying a change of appearance?'

'Are you trying to be funny?' She responded with a frown.

''No, I'm being serious!'

'They're pets for your siblings, I presume?' Isogai spoke up as he set the basket down on the table, earning Amaya's immediate attention. 'They appear too young to be away from their mother, though. Are they strays?'

And the award for hitting the nail on the head went to Isogai.

Like normal, though Amaya did make sure to nod her head in agreement with Isogai.

'Oh, I guess that makes sense!' Maehara responded, nodding thoughtfully. 'Reiko-chan would probably hug them to death at this size.'

And Samuel, too.

Though right now, Amaya didn't want to bring up the topic of her newly acquired sibling - It was okay with Karma, though she still didn't like admitting the fact that he knew so much about the reasons for it.

'Anyway! Enough about cute furballs! Come sit down!' Maehara announced with great emphasis, marching around the table to grab Amaya by the hand and steer her to a chair. 'This was supposed to be done on Monday!'

'You already stated that.' Isogai responded wryly.

'U-umm, but didn't you both want something to drink, or--'

'No need, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up kindly as he carefully lifted three assorted cans of drink from the basket they'd brought along. 'We decided since we've made an impromptu visit, we would bring drinks and lunch.'

'And since you don't have a phone anymore, we couldn't just call and see if you were free.' Maehara added as Isogai tossed him a can of iced coffee.

Oh, she guessed that made sense.

Maehara would probably know better than anyone else why her phone was missing.

He was the one that went with her into the Okinawan facility, after all.

Gingerly she decided to sit down, just as Isogai had set a can of iced coffee on the table at the last spare space not taken up by the box of kittens.

'Right! First of all, this is from both me and Isogai here!' Maehara announced brightly as he slid the parcel across the table carefully, grinning at the rather uncertain look across Amaya's face.

This ... is for her?

'Happy Birthday for Monday, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up just as Maehara had opened his mouth to presumably say the same thing, earning a spoiled pout in response.

'Yeah, what he said! Happy belated Birthday, Maya-chan!' Maehara announced with a bright grin, practically shoving the large, brightly wrapped parcel into her hands. 'We spent forever picking this for you! Hope you like it!'

However Amaya's thoughts had frozen in their tracks.

It had been her birthday on the Monday just been?

Amaya pondered on that for a few seconds, thoroughly confused.

At least until she recalled that Monday was the 25th, which at least in some way seemed to hold some sort of relevance, though she couldn't fathom what that was at the time.

And now that she consciously realized it, she felt horribly embarrassed right now.

'Th-thank you.' Amaya responded, the tiniest dustings of colour touching her face.

'You could have put it nicer, Maehara.' Isogai remarked, a wry smile across his face.

'And you could learn to be a bit more informal, Yuuma.' Maehara was quick to rebuke, in good humor. 'Ok! Open it! I wanna know what you think of it!'

'U-umm, alright...' Amaya hedged as she carefully began to do as she was told, suspicion sinking in on her.

It felt like the playboy was up to something, though she didn't know what.

The wrapping was pretty enough where she might cover her notebook with it, so she made a point of unwrapping as carefully as he could.

And all the while, Maehara practically beamed as the wrapping was opened up, and Amaya's movements had slowed to a stop as she found herself staring down at a bundle of delicate fabric.

A deep, ruby red material with the patterning of orange maple leaves and black feathers stood out in bright display, a combination of colours she found herself drawn towards. There were other items carefully enclosed within the folds of the material, a pale gold strip of material she eventually realized was an obi, a pair of geta, two long strips of material for some reason, and a kinchaku.

The combination of those three items told Amaya exactly what this was - A Yukata ensemble.

And immediately, Amaya found herself both rather touched by the gift, and a little horrified, too.

She knew exactly how expensive Yukata were, she'd never once worn one before, and the ones that the twins had were hand-me-downs given by Mako's parents.

'I-it's beautiful ... but you didn't have to get me anything.' Amaya spoke up faintly, lifting her gaze from the expensive gift to look up at the two boys sitting at the table with her.

'Well, we didn't pitch everything in for this.' Maehara began with a mischievous grin that looked freakishly similar to Koro-sensei's own grin. 'We had a sponsor who helped!'

A sponsor?

Amaya didn't miss the rather wry touch that appeared across Isogai's face at that remark, and it made her feel very nervous.

This did not sound good at all!

'Wh-who's this sponsor?'

'Not saying~! Only thing I will say is that you have to do just one little thing with us!' Maehara remarked, his grin growing broader.

'And what's that...?'

'You have to wear that tonight and go to the festival downtown with us!' The playboy announced, almost at the top of his lungs. 'You absolutely have to! No ifs or buts! Non negotiable!'

If possible, Amaya's naturally pale complexion turned an additional couple of shades whiter.

'Maehara, you're getting carried away again.' Isogai remarked with a sigh.

'What? Thats what he said!'

He?

Oh no, she had a fair idea who this sponsor could be.

He was a painfully meddlesome being who invited himself into her home without permission.

However, her thoughts were quickly derailed away from this supposed sponsor, and to the revelation that she was expected to wear a yukata and go gallivanting down at a festival.

Problem number one was the fact that she didn't know how to put one of these delicate outfits on, let alone how to walk in one. She honestly felt one of these pretty outfits would be ruined if she were to ever wear it.

Then problem number two was the honest fact that she had three children to feed, two kittens to tend to every hour, and then there was the fact that a moody redhead would probably be a little annoyed at her if he turned up and she was nowhere to be found.

'No! You're coming with us!' Maehara cut in as Amaya opened her mouth to decline, surprising her just a little. 'I have plans, too!'

'But I can't, Hiroto-kun.' Amaya sighed, lifting a hand to run it over her face briefly. 'I have siblings to look after, plus their pets, and I need to go downtown to do some shopping.'

'Aww, don't be like that Maya-chan! Come have fun with us!'

'I already told you I can't go.'

'Koro-sensei's probably already managed to beg everyone else to come, so you should too.'

'That's not going to change my mind!'

It was a few seconds after her argument that a horribly sly grin appeared across Maehara's face for a second.

The wry look across Isogai's face strengthened as Maehara then gave a thoughtful nod and smiled more moderately.

'I get it. You're just chicken.' He surmised, nodding thoughtfully as if the only person he was talking to was himself.

'How does that make you think I'm chicken?!' Amaya questioned, her patience wearing thin.

'All I hear from you is "I can't", not "I don't want to".' He explained, leaning forward to lift his can of iced coffee from the table. 'And here I thought you would have taken the opportunity to look cute for Karma-kun.'

Amaya's brow furrowed as she stared at the playboy in mention, doing her best to will away the encroaching warmth threatening to engulf her face.

'What?!'

'Oh yeah, its pretty clear to me now, Maya-chan.'

'What the hell are you even going on about?!'

Isogai let out a breath as he opened his can of iced coffee, exasperation clearly written across his face as he took a sip.

'Well then! If you argue the point any more I'll take that as a declaration that you're now available, since you're obviously not interested in Karma-kun anymore.' Maehara remarked with a painfully smug grin. 'I was thinking of pursuing Okano-chan, but if you're free game, I'll gladly go on a few dates with you, instead!'

The frown written across her face disappeared instantly as she realized he was actually serious, and she was reminded vividly of a rather painful few days at the end of term.

'Wh-what?! No, I-I--'

'I will, and there won't be anything you can say to convince me otherwise.' Maehara announced, his tone deceptively proud. 'If you're still interested in Karma-kun, you're going to have to prove it to me! And if I think you're not, I'll turn the flirting up to eleven! Minus the dad pickup lines, though! I learned well the first time!'

The smug look across Maehara's face faded as he then fixed her with a surprisingly sheepish look.

'And now that I've met the guy, I can see why you hate him so much.' He added in spite of the curious look Isogai was casting him.

Well, she had to give him that one - Maehara had probably the most painful meeting there could ever be with Toji.

He undoubtedly had the most similar impression of the man to her.

He had more of a right to dislike the man after meeting him, in any case.

The frown Isogai was not-so-discretely casting Maehara told Amaya that the ikemen was at least moderately aware of who her father was.

Well, he would after that first night in Okinawa.

'So what's it gonna be, Maya-chan? Do you want to date me, or Karma-kun?' Maehara questioned brightly.

Way to turn a heavy topic into something mortifying...

'Don't you think you've made your point, Maehara?' Isogai questioned with a frown.

'I want verbal agreement!'

'You embarrass her too much, and you're probably going to get given a black eye, instead.' Isogai remarked.

Maehara seemed to think on that for a few seconds.

'You know, feisty girls have always been a turn-on for me.'

'Yes, and shy girls, confident girls, awkward girls, promiscuous girls, and any other dateable girl you can land yourself with.' The sarcasm in Isogai's response was so strong, Amaya found herself gaping at the ikemen instead of blushing furiously at the previous topic. 'And on your demands just now, I think Amaya-san gets it. So stop dangling the torture of having to date you over her head.'

Scratch that, she was now blushing.

'Hey! It's not torture! I'm a very likable guy!'

'With a reputation that has prevented you from managing to date any of the girls in our class, no less.' Isogai rebuked easily.

Maehara's rather affronted expression melted away to form a bemused glower instead.

'Don't you think you're hating on your best friend a little too much, Yuuma?'

Isogai ignored the playboy in preference for taking a long sip of his coffee, his expression rather matter of fact.

Amaya stared at the scene before her, half-wondering if Isogai was in a particularly bad mood.

Or maybe, this was how the two usually acted when they were in their own downtime?

Thinking on it that way, it made a bit of sense - After all, Isogai couldn't be so polite and formal all the time, right?

The pleading look Maehara shot her after a few seconds caused the snowy-featured girl to let out a gradual sigh.

'Fine ... I'll go.' She muttered, her gaze shifting to the box of kittens as Maehara grinned. 'My siblings will all be fine for the evening, but I can't leave the kittens here...'

'All?' Maehara questioned curiously.

'A veterinary clinic would be able to tend to them overnight, though you would have to pay them.' Isogai offered up helpfully, cutting over Maehara's question.

Huh, well that's an idea.

And well, she had been meaning to get the kittens checked up to know whether she could start introducing solid food into their diets.

That kind of dealt with two issues right off the bat.

What was a startling and rather bewildering half an hour stretched out to be a moderately comfortable few hours of just general catch-up, speckled with a strangely sarcastic edge of remarks from Isogai towards a fair number of Maehara's comments.

It had been explained to Amaya however that Isogai did actually speak like this to Maehara when they were hanging out casually, its just that Amaya hadn't spent a lot of time with the two boys out of school to really know for herself. It was highly likely, and insinuated by Isogai a few times, that Maehara just tested his patience at times.

Needless to say, once she'd gotten used to the almost alien-like difference, she found it rather endearing.

The basket the boys had brought contained a few cans of drinks, sandwiches and other lunch-like things that Amaya felt she hadn't eaten in years.

It was a rather light-hearted instance free from the responsibilities she had been trying to deal with ever since the end of term.

But then, as the light outside began to colour with mild yellow, Maehara seemed to decide they'd had enough relaxation time.

He'd seemed to come to that decision as he glanced down at the yukata ensemble sitting neatly on the table next to the box of kittens. A grin spread across his face as he then looked back at a rather suspicious Amaya.

'It's getting late! Don't you girls take hours to get ready?' The playboy's remark caused Amaya to turn rigid in her seat.

'That could have used some tact.' Isogai interjected within a heartbeat, though his tone was rather matter of fact.

'The festival starts in a couple hours! So you should start getting ready!'

Amaya paled a couple of shades as she looked down at the yukata.

'B-but-'

'You already agreed, so no arguing!'

'I'm not--'

'Unfortunately, he isn't going to let this go, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up, earning Amaya's alarmed attention. 'It would give him less reason to be utterly painful if you listen to him this once.'

'Oi! I'm not painful!' The playboy rebuked, seeming thoroughly insulted by the ikemen's remark.

Amaya decided to at least listen to Isogai, since it appeared Maehara was getting more and more stubborn with every passing second.

She let out a breath as she gingerly picked up the yukata and made her way towards the bathroom.

'Don't take too long!' Maehara called after her.

'Shut up!' She shouted back after him as she shut the door.

After throwing herself quickly into the shower, Amaya eventually found herself staring down at the Yukata ensemble with a look similar to that of trepidation.

How was she supposed to figure out how this worked?

She could tell without having to search that this didn't come with an instruction manual.

Clothes never came with an instruction manual.

And what was even more confusing for Amaya was the fact that when she unfolded the yukata, it rolled down much farther than she'd even expected.

'I know I'm tall for a girl ... but I'm not this tall!' Amaya squeaked out in horror.

She was literally holding the vibrant outfit up as high as she could, and a good three inches of the bottom rested flat on the floor.

'D-do I really have to wear this?!' Amaya called out, utterly mortified at the fact that she was supposed to be pulling on a Yukata.

'Of course you do! It's a festival!' Maehara barked out, his voice growing closer as he obviously approached at the sound of her distress.

'But you're going in normal clothes, damnit!'

'I'm a guy!'

'And?!'

'Just shut up and put it on, woman!' The playboy responded sharply, startling the wits out of Amaya.

'Maehara, you could be a little nicer.'

'Not now, Yuuma! I have plans to carry out!'

Whatever these plans were, Amaya wasn't sure if she even wanted to know why it had anything to do with her.

Just, how the hell was she going to figure out how this was supposed to work?

'Damnit ... why aren't there any instructions...?' She muttered beneath her breath.

Apparently seeming to hear her muttered words, she heard Isogai speak out through the door.

'Have you ever worn a Yukata before, Amaya-san?'

'Oi oi, I'm sure Maya-chan has.'

Amaya didn't answer - her face was beginning to colour vividly in embarrassment.

'Did you need some help?' Isogai called out through the door after what felt like a few mere seconds, drawing a squeak from Amaya with little effort.

A rather bright shade of red dusted her face as she realized she couldn't actually say no - she was entirely lost and starting to get painfully flustered.

Maehara had begun to speak, however he felt silent as Amaya let out a painfully panicked 'Please' in response to Isogai's initial question.

'Wait-- What?!' The playboy almost yelled in shock. 'Quick Yuuma! Summon your girlfriend to help Maya-chan!'

'MAEHARA!' Isogai practically yelled, earning a startled yelp from Amaya. 'You were supposed to keep that quiet! We don't want anyone to know in case Koro-sensei finds out!'

Isogai honestly sounded mad right now.

'Hey, calm down, I wouldn't have said it if Maya-chan didn't already know.' Maehara responded, though it appeared he had at least a little sense and was more subdued with his remark. 'Right, Maya-chan?'

A chill tore down Amaya's spine at those words, though she did her best to try and subdue a mad Isogai from her side of the door.

'I-I did ... Nakamura-san-- I mean, Rio-san was asking on the boat, but I didn't say anything. M-Maehara-kun told me to pretend I didn't know.'

'OI! You stopped calling me Hiroto, damnit!'

Silence echoed for several long seconds, before a weary sigh escaped Isogai.

'You can go find a nearby veterinary clinic and make sure they can look after Amaya-san's pets.' Isogai spoke sharply.

'Y-yes, I'll go do that soon...' Maehara spoke with a sheepish chuckle.

'Now.'

Maehara uttered no response, and the only sounds that Amaya heard of his departure was the front door closing a few seconds later.

Damnit, she never knew Isogai could get this mad all of a sudden...

And now it was even more awkward because of it.

A distinct sigh escaped Isogai from the other side of the door, a sign that he was at least collecting himself once again.

'I apologize for my sudden outburst just now.' The Ikemen apologized after a few seconds. 'I suppose I should give you a hand with whatever is giving you trouble.'

'U-umm, well ... its more like ...' Amaya hedged, struggling to get her composure back in order. 'Can you just explain how this is supposed to be put on? Cause I really don't understand.'

'Ah, I can do that. My sister still has trouble with hers, so I often help her.'

And so, without Maehara there to complicate things, the how-to for putting a Yukata on was issued by Isogai, and after a few minutes, she'd managed to put the yukata on, though Isogai did have to help her with the obi. She felt horribly embarrassed over having to be talked through how to put an outfit on, but she could live with that.

Just so long as Karma or her siblings never found out.

She could practically hear all the different ways he would turn the revelation into an endless barrage of mocking jabs.

And undoubtedly, he'd find a way to make all those jabs cat-related.

'I'm back! The Furballs are safe in the clinic, you can pick them up in the morning!' Maehara called as he let himself back in several minutes later, his gaze falling upon Amaya's mostly dressed form sitting on one of the chairs at the table. 'Oh! Did Megu-chan come round?'

'I suggest you drop it, Maehara.' Isogai quipped with little hesitation.

'Y-yes sir...' Maehara blanched, scooting his way towards the other chair.

Though his expression brightened as he looked down at an opened paper bag sitting on the table.

'Oh! Yuuma, how about--' He'd begun, however as he looked up at Amaya, he cut himself off as he noticed that Isogai was in the process of styling Amaya's hair. 'Oh, you're already on it.'

Isogai maintained his silence, however Amaya didn't dare turn her head to look.

Damnit, this was actually rather scary.

Though what was even scarier was the fact that less than a minute later, Maehara decided to speak up once again.

'Hmm! I think I picked well!' Maehara announced with a grin, nodding approvingly as he looked at Isogai 'About finished, there?'

'If you think its so easy to do this, then you're more than welcome to take over.' Isogai remarked within a heartbeat as he continued to work with Amaya's hair.

'Eh? But you always do Midori-chan's hair, Yuuma.'

'That doesn't make this easy for me.' Isogai responded, though he didn't seem to be having any trouble at all.

'Only you can get away with doing something so girly and not look like a sissy.' Maehara interjected without thought.

'I see tact is still something you conveniently wave aside as well.'

'What? I'm tactful!' Maehara seemed rather affronted as he turned his head to look at Amaya. 'Isn't that right Maya-chan?'

Unfortunately for Maehara, Amaya couldn't look him in the eye at that remark.

'...Ouch.' He muttered, thoroughly disappointed.

But then, the front door swung open with a loud clunk, and a bright and cheerful voice rung out.

'Amay! We're home!' Reiko sung out as she skipped inside. 'Oh! Isogai-senpai! Maehara-senpai! Hi!'

'Hey there Reiko-chan!' Maehara greeted enthusiastically.

Amaya didn't turn around or even move, her gaze straight ahead as she heard Reiko and Samuel begin to talk enthusiastically with Maehara.

But then she heard something that tugged a little at her recollection, enough to have her brow furrowed.

'Mister, is okay after Mister Bell Pepper make drink strawberry sauce?' Samuel had asked, his Japanese a little rough considering his lack of practice with it.

Strawberry sauce and Mister Bell Pepper?

Oh god ... that person Karma tortured last week wasn't Maehara was it?!

'Heheh, well it wasn't that bad.' Maehara responded sheepishly. 'But first, who are you?'

'His name is Sammie!' Reiko was quick to cut in, a bright smile echoing in her voice. 'And he's our new little brother!'

'Huh!? He's the sibling Ritsu-chan mentioned when you needed somewhere to stay, Maya-chan?!' Maehara practically exclaimed.

She didn't answer - Her attention went immediately onto Yuta as he approached to sit in the chair Maehara had been previously occupying.

Much like the day they'd leaped into the river, Yuta still didn't really talk to her nor looked at her, though she didn't pick up any hostility from him at all.

He didn't necessarily avoid being around her, either.

'Amaaaay!' Reiko sung as she skipped around Maehara to sprint towards the motionless girl. 'Oh wow! You're so pretty! Where did you get the yukata?!'

'We got it for her!' Maehara announced.

'Oh! It looks really pretty! Red looks nice on Amay!'

'No! Big Sister Meow is Big Sister Meow!' Samuel complained as he threw himself against Reiko's side, a distinct pout across his face.

'Big Sister Meow?' Reiko repeated curiously.

However, just at that moment Isogai let go of her hair in time for her to turn her head and fix the two bubbly siblings with the most volatile stare she could manage.

Which, considering that she was technically a middle-school delinquent in some way, it was a rather terrifying look.

A sudden squeak of fright escaped Samuel, all the while Reiko gave a sheepish chuckle.

'Yeah, I think you should stop calling Amay "Big Sister Meow", Sammie. She doesn't like it.'

'Then ... Maymay?'

The involuntary flinch that shot through Amaya said enough, though she didn't say anything.

'No, just Amay or Amaya.'

'Okay ...' Samuel spoke glumly.

'Hold still, Amaya-san.' Isogai spoke up after a few seconds, lifting a pin from the paper bag on the table. From what Amaya caught from the corner of her eye, it was a hanging pin with what looked like gold coloured pieces to it, though nothing more.

Then, after a good ten or so seconds, the ikemen stepped away with a relieved sigh.

'There, that's everything done.' Isogai remarked as he took his hands away from her head, stepping back as he went to go do whatever it was he needed.

'Oh wow! That pin is so pretty!' Reiko gushed as she clambered over to take a look at the braiding Isogai had done.

'Pink is better...' Samuel pouted dramatically.

'So what's the occasion?' Reiko questioned brightly as she turned her head towards Isogai.

'I suggest you ask Maehara.' Isogai responded with an ikemenly kind smile, though to Amaya who had seen Isogai's mood over the past three hours, she knew for a fact that he wasn't exactly in the best of moods. 'He's the one who's come up with today's plans.'

Samuel pouted a little more as he looked up at Amaya's vastly different appearances.

'I want to come...' He mumbled.

'Next time, Samuel.' Yuta spoke up quietly, causing the boy to glower.

'B-but-'

'Let Amaya hang out with her friends, today.' Yuta responded a little sternly, though he ignored the souring boy as he foraged through his pockets for something.

But then, a second later Reiko let out an excited giggle.

'Amay! Go right now! RIGHT NOW!' She practically squealed as she bounded over from where Maehara was standing. An almost mad giggle escaped her as she snatched up Amaya's right wrist and proceeded to drag her out of the very chair she was sitting upon. 'Yuta come give me a hand!'

'Wh-what the?!' Amaya practicaly gasped out, finding herself unable to resist the surprising strength Reiko wielded right now.

It also didn't help that Yuta had dragged himself out of his chair and proceeded to do as Reiko had demanded.

'NO! I WANT TO EAT DINNER WITH BIG SISTER MEOW!' Samuel cried out as he tore after the three.

Unfortunately, the commotion passed before Amaya could so much as comprehend what was going on, and the next thing she knew was she was stumbling just down the front steps of the house, with Samuel latching onto her and the door of the house slamming shut with a sudden bang.

This was deja vu all over again, except Isogai and Maehara were still inside, and Samuel was out here with her.

'For the love of ... This isn't funny!' Amaya shouted, her temper finally making its comeback as she found the geta sandals that had come with the yukata set neatly on the bottom step. 'Unlock the door right now and let me in damnit!'

'Nu-uh! No way!' Reiko sung out through the door, her giggling laughter bouncing through the air as Amaya glared dangerously. 'You're going to go to that festival and have fun! And you're not coming in until late!'

'I said open the door right now! Or you won't be getting any souvenirs!'

'Not going to happen~!'

'Damnit, Reiko! Then give me my damn keys and my purse!'

No response met Amaya's aggravated words as she waited for what felt like a minute, so all she could do was try and pry Samuel off of her and pull the geta on.

It was probably an additional minute longer when the door opened to let both Isogai and Maehara out. The playboy was grinning brightly as he wandered over to stand next to Amaya, and Isogai wore a mildly amused look.

A few seconds later, Reiko came tearing out to drag Samuel back inside.

'NO! I don't want to go inside!' The boy cried out, tears beginning to brim his eyes as Reiko picked him up around the middle. 'No! I want to go with Big Sister Meow!'

Samuel practically yelled out as he lost grip of Amaya's Yukata.

'Sammie, you can pick dinner for everyone~!' Reiko hummed out.

And all of a sudden, the blond's face brightened as Reiko's words registered inside his head.

'R-Really?!'

'Yup!'

'YAY! DINNER!' Samuel sung as he skipped along after a grinning Reiko. 'I want Pizza! CHOCOLATE PIIIIIIZZA AND ICECREAM!' He exclaimed with tune.

'Yuta won't let us order sweets...'

'Awww! Th-then... sweet food that isn't candy...'

'Thanks Reiko-chan!' Maehara grinned brightly once Samuel was thoroughly distracted - He grabbed Amaya's hand, a chuckle in his tone as he proceeded to drag her out of the properly.

'Have fun~!' Reiko sung out as the door shut.

'PINEAPPLE PIZZA!' Amaya heard Samuel practically shriek out at the top of his lungs.

'Ooh! Good idea! And Chicken and Ham, with no tomato!'

'No! Just lots and lots of Pineapple and cheese!'

'Eeeh...?'

They were doomed - Well and truly.

Amaya had no idea how she was going to talk two children out of filling the trolley with sweets from now on.

'I don't have my keys again ...' Amaya mumbled glumly as she was tugged along after the two boys, her mood worsening as she recalled the last time a situation like this had happened.

She had to go ask Karma for help, and that not only started out with him mocking her relentlessly, but ended up with her thrown in the bathtub.

'Amaya-san?' Isogai spoke up after a few seconds, causing Amaya to turn her head in response.

It was here that the Ikemen passed her the kinchaku pouch, which surprisingly had a few items inside it already.

'I recalled your predicament the last instance and asked Yuta-kun to fetch some of your belongings.' Isogai smiled kindly.

And all Amaya could honestly do was smile thankfully.

Okay, this was at least a little better.

She prayed the house wouldn't be a mess when she got back, though.

They walked the several streets it was from her house to the festival, which was strangely enough a short distance. All the while Amaya did her best to just ignore how horribly out of place she felt dressed like this.

It didn't really do her any good, however. She was still hyper aware of it.

Apparently the whole class was going to be at the festival, if Koro-sensei had gotten his way. What was supposed to be a relaxing last day before the second trimester was apparently plagued with Koro-sensei racing around, begging all of his students to come to this one festival.

And oddly enough, Amaya had decided she was sure of who the so called "sponsor" was.

It was Koro-sensei.

If it wasn't, then the octopus would have come to the house to beg Amaya into coming as well.

And coming to that conclusion, Amaya had a feeling he was after something.

The sun had begun to set by the time the three friends had arrived to the festival grounds all lit up with red lanterns.

Admittedly, Amaya had been to one or two of these festivals before, though she was only there to supervise Yuta and Reiko during those times.

This was probably the first time she'd been as a proper attendee.

'Oi! Ritsu-chan! Give me a status update!' Maehara announced as he dragged Amaya through the opening of the festival, his other hand pulling his phone from his pocket. The sounds of festival music sounded rather loudly, a warm sound that was rather pleasant to Amaya's ears right now.

'Hai, I have been keeping track of the allocated GPS signal all afternoon.' Ritsu sung as she appeared over the screen, dressed in a bright cerulean blue yukata. 'Everyone has now arrived, with the exception of Terasaka-kun, Muramatsu-kun, Yoshida-kun and Hazama-san.'

'Great! Let's get started!' Maehara announced with zeal.

Amaya could only sigh as she was dragged along, reluctantly accepting her fate.

Along the way, Amaya caught the smallest glimpses of classmates - Nagisa and Kayano at a balloon-hooking booth, Okajima wandering around with his trusty SLR camera, Sugaya and Hara were conversing somewhere down one of the alleys.

There were many different booths here, from mask-stands, blown glass figurines, and of course quite a large variety of food stands.

Amaya slowed to a halt unconsciously as she found herself looking around with more interest than she could recall to have ever shown before.

She spotted a couple of items she could possibly get for the three back home, but she preferred to be savvy with her money.

A small breath escaped her as she turned her head to look back at Maehara, only, she realized that he wasn't there tugging her along anymore.

In fact, neither he nor Isogai were anywhere to be seen.

'What the hell?' Amaya muttered in confusion, her gaze tracing the sea of faces all around her.

Nobody she knew, though thankfully she couldn't see any delinquents anywhere.

It would be just her luck to be here in such a movement-restricting outfit when they'd decide to jump her.

Amaya let out a breath as she decided to wander down the right alleyway, guessing that if she just kept wandering around long enough, she might stumble upon someone she knew before long.

The way she came looked far busier than this way, anyway.

Her fingers traced the straps of her small kinchaku pouch as she walked, her shifting from one sight to another.

Her nose was practically useless here - Everything smelled like damn fried foods.

Eventually however, it appeared she had some luck. It was as she detected the distinct scent of water that she spotted someone familiar.

Isogai was in the process of paying the booth-hand one hundred yen to play the goldfish booth.

She could also see a few nearby attendees of the festival walking around with a small goldfish hanging from their hands in a plastic bag.

Her gaze narrowed distastefully at the sight, though she did her best to ignore it.

Considering those fish just spend the rest of their lives in tiny tanks, or a large majority die being dropped or carelessly swung around during the evening, she felt like in a twisted way, she could relate to them.

Trapped in their bags and glass tanks, constantly oggled and observed by humans until they died or someone let them out.

Yes, she could relate perfectly.

At this point, Isogai had started scooping fish after fish into the bowl he had, and Maehara had joined him, though the playboy was staring in alarm.

She could tell - The playboy happened to more or less be facing towards her.

Amaya hesitated in joining them - If it weren't for the poor fish being shoved into a giant pile in Isogai's bowl, Amaya would have wandered over by now.

But then, from the corner of her eye a familiar glimpse of red had caught her attention, bringing her to look around.

She realized that Ritsu's announcement of everyone except for Terasaka's posse being here was actually true.

In front of a lottery stall a mere few meters away was none other than Karma, dressed in a similar outfit to that first night at Okinawa. And, his back was towards her. She realized she probably hadn't noticed him because her eyesight had never been very sharp, and the lanterns above cast a red glow over everything, so in a strange way the boy was rather camouflaged.

Though oddly enough it looked like he wasn't playing anymore, and the stall owner was particularly nervous.

She watched silently as the stall owner reluctantly handed over a particularly large looking box, one that she knew for a fact was particularly expensive from all of those visits with the twins to game-stores.

In fact, she'd seen that box before, and it was in the top-priced margin - More expensive that the little 3DS that she'd bought.

Coincidentally, she couldn't remember where it had ended up.

'J-just keep quiet and don't come back again.' The stall owner whispered frantically to an innocently grinning redhead.

' Sure~ I think I can do that~'

Ah, she felt she knew exactly what was going on.

Undoubtedly, his lottery stall was rigged and he just so happened to get hustled at his own game.

Amaya couldn't claim to feel remotely sorry for the guy.

Fixing Karma with a frosty stare, the stall owner kept his silence while the redhead was nearby.

And Karma strangely enough hadn't noticed her standing within two meters of him just yet. He pocketed his little notebook with an amused air about him, his thoughts apparently on other things as he turned around.

'That just leaves that game she'd proba--' He cut himself off all of a sudden as he finally seemed to notice her. 'A-Amay?'

Though the shock across his face said that either he hadn't expected to see her, or he didn't recognize her at first. He also seemed a bit too surprised for him to have just that was all.

Though she couldn't put her finger on what it could be.

'How many stall owners have you tormented out of business, now?' Amaya couldn't help but ask the startled redhead, her brow furrowing just a little as he seemed to hesitate at first. 'You look a bit too pleased with yourself right now.'

'Would I really do that?' He questioned her, discretely shifting the box he'd acquired a little so it wasn't as easily visible.

'When do you not?' She responded easily enough.

'Good point.' He eventually responded, an innocent smile appearing across his face. 'What are you doing here anyway, Amay? I thought you were determined to become a hermit?'

She pretended to not notice the almost awkward edge to his tone, though she did question the tiniest hint of colour she thought she saw across his face.

The whole festival was bathed in lantern light after all, emitting a coloured glow about the place.

'Let's see... I got my peaceful afternoon stolen by Hiroto-kun and Isogai, torture from said pair for the majority of the evening, Reiko threw me out of the house again and probably has a chair under the door, and then apparently I have to stay here until some unknown sponsor is happy, whatever that means.' Amaya counted off the various incidents on her fingers. 'Oh, and not to mention the fact that someone's obviously got Ritsu-chan keeping me under constant watch in case I try to go home early.'

The innocent look across his face seemed to grow a little stronger at the mention of Maehara, though he didn't say anything at first.

Instead, he snickered slightly at the obvious displeasure across her face.

'You could have bribed Samuel to open the door.' He remarked smugly.

'I honestly wanted to ...' She huffed, turning her head away a little. 'Isogai-kun and Hiroto-kun dragged me away before I could try...'

The amount of control she had in her life had evaporated greatly ever since she'd started as a member of Class E, and she didn't like admitting that to herself, let alone anyone else.

'Heh~ I guess I'll do you a favor and torment you for a while, Amay~' The redhead drawled out, though oddly enough he sounded to be in a rather good mood.

She was suddenly very suspicious, especially when she noticed that there was a couple of times since he'd noticed her there that he seemed to look away from her almost ... furtively?

'If that's your idea of hanging out, I'd rather brave Reiko's bad mood and go home.' Amaya retorted easily.

However, just as she'd made a move to wander off, he'd snatched up her wrist to prevent her from actually going anywhere.

'So impatient~' He smirked at Amaya's less than pleased expression, his amusement evident. 'I was kidding~ You're obviously in a bad mood~'

A bad mood, huh?

No, more like she was actually a bit too self-conscious to really want to stay wandering out here on her own, or entertaining his particular brand of mischief this once.

'I dunno, you always go out of your way to torment me.' She eventually responded, taking note of the rather gentle hold he had of her wrist. 'It's usually safer to assume you're being serious.'

'Your faith in me is pleasing.' His sarcastic quip however was accompanied with an oddly bright smile.

What the hell is even going on?

'So, since you have nothing to do, you're coming with me~' Karma remarked as he began to head south towards the other parts of the festival grounds, tugging a perplexed Amaya along after him. 'I've got some more people to requisition wares from.'

A sigh escaped Amaya as she guessed he had more games to blackmail out of people.

Though she didn't feel sorry for these various stall owners.

And so, Amaya's particular evening of being dragged along went moderately well, considering.

Glimpsing classmates here and there, witnessing Koro-sensei begin a takeover of all the free booths in the grounds as they closed one by one, and of course, more pitiful booths set up rigged were thwarted by Karma and his particularly terrifying power of manipulation.

Oddly enough, it appeared the redhead was going for very specific things, though she couldn't fathom as to why that was.

Some of the things he was acquiring, he already actually owned.

And oddly enough, as soon as he'd finished acquiring his desired things from the lottery booths here and there, he'd grab her by the hand as soon as he had a free hand and drag her along after him.

It wasn't her wrist anymore.

She was happy.

She was honestly ... happy again, and she didn't quite understand why.

Her body was still a wreck, she was still unable to sleep or function properly regardless of anything she did.

And yet ... this was probably the happiest she'd been ever since the start of the school year.

Her siblings were back, and even for just a few minutes, she'd forgotten about everything that had happened this year.

'Hey, Amay.' She heard her favorite redhead speak, that familiar sound of mischief in his tone.

And yet, she thought nothing of it and turned her head in response none the less, opening her mouth to question him.

She regretted it however - Before she even knew what was going on, he'd shoved a bite of the food item he'd bought earlier inher mouth so suddenly she practically flinched away in fright.

And immediately from the flavor, she knew it was something sickeningly sweet like candied potatoes, causing her to cough and splutter as he snickered to himself.

'What the hell'd you attack me for?!' She choked out as she fixed her volatile glare upon Karma's rather amused face.

'Heh~ and here I was being nice and sharing.' He remarked, smirking all the while.

She contemplated uttering a petulant rebuke, though she decided to turn her head away and remain silent.

It still amused him greatly, none the less.

At least, at first it had.

'Oi! Maya-chaaaan!' Maehara's voice rung out throughout the festival grounds almost a second later, bringing Amaya's gaze from the snickering redhead.

He was approaching from down the alley that most of the delicate souvenir stalls were, a bright grin across his face.

There was no Isogai in sight.

'Here you are! I've been looking for you!' He announced with a breathless sigh, lifting a plastic bag with a couple stacks of fried foods inside. 'You wandered off before I could shout you dinner!'

It was here that Amaya felt the grip Karma had of her hand tighten momentarily, and he'd turned his attention towards the unsuspecting Playboy.

'O-oh, sorry... I didn't know.' Amaya hedged, discomfort sinking in on her as she recalled his earlier alternation about her coming to the festival like this.

'Heh~ You made plans with Amay, huh?' Karma spoke up, an innocent smile spreading across his face.

And yet, the air seemed to turn frigidly cold all of a sudden.

'Well actually since neither Yuuma or I got to celebrate Maya-chan's birthday on Monday, we'd planned to do that here.' Maehara responded with an equally as innocent smile as Karma, which absolutely terrified Amaya.

And then, the grip of her tightened even more.

'Sorry~ You'll have to hang out some other time!' The redhead remarked all of a sudden.

And before she knew it, Amaya was being dragged well away from a still-smiling Maehara faster than her feet could actually manage dressed as she was.

'Wh-what--! Karma, slow down!' Amaya squeaked out, fearful of tripping over right now. 'Damn it, I'm going to slip!'

Strangely enough however, he'd yielded to her pleas and slowed just enough for her to regain her footing.

Though by this point, she had no idea of where they were other than the fact that they were no longer under the lantern light, and amazingly enough he still had all the items he'd acquired.

Amaya sucked in a deep breath as she tried to regain her composure.

'You seriously need to stop dragging me around like this, Karma...' She sighed as she straightened up, failing to consciously notice the fact that he'd let go of her hand already. 'I've already fallen on my face twice because of that.'

There was no reply - She actually blinked in surprise as wondered if he'd gone and disappeared while she was complaining.

'Karma?' She looked up out of habit, only to find herself letting out a startled yelp at the sight she found.

He hadn't gone anywhere, she found, and he was standing right in front of her, looking livid. All his acquisitions were set on the ground next to him, leaving his hands completely free.

A pinching punishment was guaranteed in store for her as he'd grabbed her face in almost exactly that same way.

Except, as she frantically tried to pry his hands from her face out of instinct, she found herself actually freezing in her tracks as she noticed that something wasn't right.

'Stop that.' she heard him remark sharply, startling her out of her instinctive reaction.

She'd looked up out of sheer confusion, however her entire form turned rigid as she looked up at him.

The only thing she managed to spot was that what she felt sure was the colouration of the lanterns was still there across his face - A rather distinct dusting of colour was visible, and she actually started to panic.

'Wait a minute - You're not sick are you?!' She practically squeaked out, freeing one of her wrists so she could check his temperature.

Heaven forbid he was - there was only one time she could recall that he'd ever been sick, and that scared the hell out of her.

His blank expression as she checked his condition didn't do her concerns any good, especially as she found that his forehead felt rather hot to the touch.

However, before long he started snickering like there was something hilarious right in front of him, stunning the poor girl witless.

'Are you seriously panicking right now?' He asked her, not bothering to even hide the laughter in his tone.

And yet all Amaya could do was stare at him in utter befuddlement as he just laughed more and more. She was honestly worried, and yet here he was laughing more than she'd ever seen him laugh in the whole time she'd known him.

'I don't quite see what's so funny, you jerk.' Amaya eventually muttered, a pout and starting hints of a blush appearing across her face as she turned her head away.

'That's just because your feline brain doesn't pick up on anything but fish.' He responded immediately, his amusement still as clear as day.

Her temper flared - She was thoroughly insulted that he was calling her a cat right now.

She lifted her head to fix him with a deathly glare, except she found herself oddly mute.

The hand still pressed to the side of her face tugged her forward as he clumsily crushed his lips against hers, a vivid dusting of red spreading across his face as she froze dead in her tracks.

'I like you, stupid cat...' He muttered as he pulled away a few seconds later, an awkward edge to his words as he looked back at Amaya's face.

However, at the sight of Amaya's frozen, and furiously red face, he snickered all the same.

Amaya's whole word escaped her conscious grip as she remained frozen there on her feet.

---=[Authors Note]=---

No real note today, just a chapter because I've reached word limit. Hope you enjoyed, and please have fun xD

Edit: Please forgive the title, its meant to be Matsuri, but my version reverted the title to the WIP.

Matsuri - Translates roughly as Festival if I'm not mistaken, written roughly as 祭りin Japanese

All the best, guys <3

Loki-Roki